A Cork in the Road

In Episode 187, we explore the role of beverage programs in restaurant evaluations. Award entities can greatly impact the entire ecosystem of a restaurant and surrounding relationships, and an interesting conversation recently sparked among journalists, beverage professionals, and restaurants surrounding the forthcoming 2026 Atlanta’s “50 Best Restaurants” list. We spoke about this issue with not...

In Episode 186, Kelly and fellow Atlanta beverage professionals explore Korean rice wine with Alice Jun, founder and brewer of Brooklyn-based Hana Makgeolli. Recorded live at The Oenophile Institute in Atlanta, this conversation highlights makgeolli, a traditional Korean rice wine with deep cultural roots and growing relevance in the modern beverage landscape. Alice is the first domestic producer...

What happens when the worlds of wine and sake overlap? In this live audience episode of A Cork in the Road at The Vine Club, Kelly sits down with Chris Johnson, the National Sales Director for World Sake Imports, to explore the craft, culture, and culinary possibilities of sake with a series of food pairing challenges. Named a Sake Samurai by the Young Brewers Association of Japan in 2013, Chris i...

What happens when a classically trained musician pursues a career in wine? For Emma Rubenstein, it means becoming a Certified Sommelier, Assistant General Manager at Atlanta’s Cooks & Soldiers, and a drummer in a Brazilian psych band. In Episode 184 of A Cork in the Road, Kelly sits down with Emma to explore her journey from studying sociology and music to more than a decade in Atlanta’s hospi...

What happens when a professional basketball career collides with a passion for wine? For NBA player CJ McCollum, it looks a lot like owning a winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and continuing to study wine with the same curiosity and dedication he brings to the basketball court. In this live audience episode of A Cork in the Road, Kelly and a group of fellow Atlanta wine professionals sit down w...

Episode 182 takes A Cork in the Road “on the road” to Walla Walla, Washington, for a special crossover episode with our friends at The Wine Makers podcast. Recorded during Blood of Gods Annual Merrymaking, an unforgettable festival celebrating the intersection of wine, art, music, and heavy metal, this episode explores what makes the event and the Walla Walla wine community so special. After nearl...

Episode 181 of A Cork in the Road welcomes Kiki Austin, Atlanta's acclaimed sake sommelier and the head sommelier at Michelin-starred Mujō. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Kiki's journey into sake began with a single drink after karate class and has since taken her from wine retail and fine dining to immersive travels throughout Japan, deepening her understanding of one of...

From the classroom to the wine bar, Bejay Osby has spent nearly two decades proving that education comes in many forms. In Episode 180 of A Cork in the Road, Kelly sits down with the longtime Atlanta educator and wine student to explore how his career as a school teacher has naturally complemented his lifelong passion for wine, hospitality, and community. Bejay reflects on the mentors, restaurants...

Episode 179 features an entertaining recording at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with a live audience conversation and tasting hosted by Poppi Monroe, the U.S. Central Regional Sales Manager for Champagne Laurent-Perrier . Joined by a room full of women working throughout the Atlanta wine industry, Kelly sits down with Poppi to explore her fascinating career journey from acting in film and televisio...

What happens when the worlds of wine and golf collide? More than you might think. In Episode 178 of A Cork in the Road, we welcome two Virginia wine industry leaders - Stephen Barnard, the Winemaker for Keswick Vineyards , and Lance Lemon, the owner of Penny’s Wine Shop and Parallax Project Wines - for a lively and unexpected conversation about the parallels between the craft of wine and the game...

Episode 177 brings together two things Atlanta takes seriously: lemon pepper chicken wings and great wine. Recorded live at The Perlant, this episode features five Atlanta sommeliers taking on a pairing challenge to find the perfect wine combo for Chef Dene Lynn’s wings while a panel of culinary judges and media personalities share honest reactions, thoughtful insights, and plenty of lively debate...

Episode 176 takes us live to The Oenophile Institute for an engaging audience conversation with winemaker Matt Taylor , a third-generation Sonoma County native whose thoughtful approach to farming and winemaking has made him one of California’s most compelling voices in small-production wine. Known for crafting wines across several labels and portfolios, Matt shares how his deep connection to the...

Step into the minds of sommeliers and wine professionals to discover what really happens when they sit down to identify wines in a blind tasting. In Episode 175, recorded live at Vino Venue, we bring together a panel of seasoned blind tasters who are veterans of Atlanta’s annual “Somm Smackdown” blind tasting competition. This conversation unpacks the art, intuition, and discipline behind identify...

Episode 174 of A Cork in the Road brings the energy of a live audience straight to your headphones with a dynamic conversation and tasting recorded at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA. We continue our mission of making wine more human and accessible this time through a behind-the-scenes look at the world of wine importing. In front of one of the largest audiences in the show’s history and a record-bre...

This episode features a live audience conversation and tasting at The Oenophile Institute in Smyrna, GA with Arnaud Bourgeois, the General Manager of Domaine Henri Bourgeois in the Loire Valley of France. For 10 generations, his family has been helping people discover and appreciate the unique terroirs of Sancerre. He shares his passion for being in a role as an ambassador for the region, and we c...

This episode features a live audience conversation and tasting at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA with Pauline Vranken, the Chief Executive Officer of Vranken-Pommery America. This was Pauline’s first ever visit to Atlanta, and she brought a variety of sparkling wines for us to taste from California, England, and Champagne. Our friends at Georgia Crown Distributing Co. had the brilliant idea of pairi...

Episode 171 of A Cork in the Road explores how access, education, and community can reshape the wine industry through the lens of Oeno Camp, an annual immersive multi-day program designed for BIPOC wine professionals and enthusiasts based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Created through a partnership between The Veraison Project and Oenoverse , Oeno Camp blends vineyard visits, cellar experiences, ta...

This episode features a conversation with Isuru Vidanage, the Wine Buyer at Elemental Spirts Co. in Atlanta, GA. Born in Houston, TX to Sri Lankan immigrants, Isuru went to high school in Macon, GA and later moved to Atlanta for college. He earned a degree in Biology with a distinction in Biochemistry and Evolutionary Biology and Behavior followed by working at the Centers for Disease Control and...

This episode features a live audience conversation and Port tasting with Chris Forbes, the Deputy Managing Director for Taylor’s Port. Chris joined the company in 2007 and was initially responsible for the management of all Special Marketing projects across the company’s three main brands. He then took on the role of export manager for the USA and Irish markets before being promoted to Commercial...

This episode features a very different type of conversation for the podcast with the tables turned, the script flipped – Amanda Kimbrough of Avant Partir sits down to interview Kelly of A Cork in the Road while they also field some questions submitted by podcast listeners. We hope this gives you a little behind the scenes perspective of Kelly’s wine journey and how this podcast came to be, but als...

This episode featuring a conversation with Jacqueline Strum, President & Publisher of Wine Enthusiast Media, as the second generation of her family’s business. She began her career in marketing and public relations, working with agencies such as Hunter PR and Mission Media, before moving into digital media at UrbanDaddy. She later founded ThirstyNest, the first wine and spirits registry for th...

This episode features a live audience tasting and conversation at The VIne Club in Atlanta, GA with winemaker Rajat Parr of Phelan Farm in Cambria, CA. Rajat first made an appearance on the show in May of 2024 for Episode 128 where we talked about the ethos of Phelan Farm and his dedication to regenerative farming and soil health. For this conversation, we incorporated a live blind tasting session...

This live audience episode at The Perlant is dedicated to the art of food and wine pairings as we look forward to the holiday season. This episode is generously sponsored by the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, which has an incredible connection to this episode’s featured guest and has supported his growth and journey from day one. Kevin Mobley, the Chef and Owner of Anna Bell’s Kitchen, is honoring his gre...

This episode features our live audience conversation with Chantal Gonet of Champagne Philippe Gonet recorded at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA. Chantal and her brother, Pierre, were pressed into service after the untimely death of their father, Philippe. Chantal was in a Parisian engineering school and Pierre was studying winemaking in Burgundy, but their mother stepped in and managed the estate lar...

This episode features our live audience conversation with Marco Ricasoli Firidolfi, the current owner of Rocca di Montegrossi in Tuscany, recorded at The Vine Club in Atlanta, GA. Marco has 37 generations of family history in Italy, and he is a descendant of Bettino Ricasoli, who played a central role in the history of laying the foundations for Chianti Classico wine. We gathered at The Vine Club...